This was the placard I held at the protest today. A woman stops her vehicle in the middle of the road and asks me why I am mentioning the Dalit caste of the victim. I say the victim was r*ped because she was a Dalit, hence it is important to point out the victim's caste 1/n
She then argues that a woman was r*ped, that is all there is to mention. She then says why am I saying #DalitLivesMatter when women of all castes are the victims. I try explaining how caste plays a role in the dehumanization of Dalit women, just like their gender does too 2/n
A gender activist joins the conversation and says she herself is a Brahmin yet stands for Dalit women because they are not only the victims of patriarchy but of the caste system as well. She further explains how this particular crime was committed by UC Thakurs on a Dalit 3/n
The women on the vehicle agrees that the r*pe was a horrible incident, and that the criminals must be punished. She talks about how women have been oppressed for centuries, and adds that women of all castes are the victims, but refuses to acknowledge the caste aspect of it 4/n
While I appreciate that she tried to engage in a conversation, it is nonetheless disappointing how the woman understood her oppression because of patriarchy but could not realize that Dalit women have to suffer from both the patriarchy and the caste system n/n
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On this #AmbedkarJayanti here's a a list of his achievements and why Ambedkar was the greatest Indian to have ever been born: a thread
Ambedkar was not allowed to sit inside his classroom or drink the water at school by upper castes because he was a Dalit. Despite all this, he passed his school & became the first-ever Mahar to go to college at a time when no Dalits were even allowed to enter or study in schools
Ambedkar earned 9 degrees in his life. A B.A, two M.As, MSc, DSc, a PhD, LLD, D.Litt and Bar-at-Law. He studied at Columbia & LSE, the first Indian to study Economics abroad. He returned to India to become a professor but faced untouchability from UC professors
On September 24, 1932, the Poona Pact was signed between Gandhi, who represented the upper-caste Hindu leaders and Dr Ambedkar, who represented the Dalits, in Yerawada Jail. This pact put an end to separate electorates for Dalits which was the biggest mistake of Babasaheb's life
Separate electorates meant that seats were reserved for minorities, in which only those minorities would vote to elect their own representatives. In 1909, the separate electorates were first introduced for Muslims & extended to Sikhs, Christians, Anglo-Indians & Europeans in 1919
Thread explaining how Cristiano Ronaldo is a rapist, paid his victim $400k to silence her, admitted to rape on record & used his money & power to get away with rape:
All the info is from reputed German mag Der Spiegel. If you don't trust them, other leading media have shared it
Ronaldo raped Kathryn Mayorga in 2009 in a hotel. "She said no & stop several times. She said no don't do it. I'm not like others. I entered her from behind. It was rude. She said she didn't want to, but made herself available." This is what Ronaldo himself admitted on the record
"If she was raped why didn't she report in 2009. Why wait for 10 years to destroy Ronaldo's image?"
She reported it in 2009, the day after it happened. There is a call recording of her call to police where she reported she was raped & later went to the hospital & took a rape kit
Reservation were not an immediate fix, nor were they introduced in 1880s & implemented in 1900s for SC/ST. They were introduced nationally in 1932 after the Poona Pact. We wanted separate electorates, not reservation. But Gandhi threatened s word
The report was submitted in 1980. The reservation in colleges was introduced in 2006 & in jobs in 1992, both with creamy layer. While some small kingdoms like Kolhapur had some reservation before, this wasn't on a national level
"Reservation has existed for 100+ years"
India got freedom 74 years ago. OBC reservation came 15 years ago. Reservations don't have an exit mechanism because caste doesn't have an exit mechanism. Reservations are not helping because they are only 11% in education & 1% in jobs
Me: Reservation is not & never was a poverty alleviation scheme
UC: But what about rich Dalits?
Me: Again, reservation is not made to solve poverty. It is to ensure representation of lower castes
UC: But rich Dalits are stealing the seats of poor Dalits!
Me: Dalits & Adivasis are 25% of the Indian population, we get 22.5% reservation. Therefore no one's stealing anyone's seat. All of us are meant to get reservation & all of us will. If you're so worried give up your seat
UC: Oh look how much you hate merit. I have achieved everything through hard work
Me: What you have achieved is a direct result of your caste privilege & generational wealth. Hard work is also done by Dalits working as labourers, farmers, workers, etc who have built this country
First of all, reservation is about representation, not economic upliftment. It exists all around the world where minorities have been historically oppressed. In India, lower castes who are 77% only have 11% & 1% seats reserved in education & jobs
This is because for 3,000 years Dalits were forbidden from receiving education & forced to clean dead animals & gutters, tie pots to their neck & brooms to their back so they don't pollute the upper castes, not allowed to drink water in public, suffered from untouchability, etc.
Many of these things still happen. Dalits are still cleaning your gutters, climbing in manholes, jumping into your sewage, cleaning your garbage, burying your dead bodies, etc. Nowhere else in the world are humans forced to climb into your shit. 100% reservation for Dalits here